Niece of Newport couple had life snuffed out at Sandy Hook

Allison Wyatt’s photo on her sixth birthday would make you smile if you didn’t know the rest of the story.

She is seated behind a cake slathered in pink frosting with six candles atop it, grinning for joy. She’s wearing a green print sundress with a barrette holding her long, sandy blonde hair in place. Cute as could be.

However, knowing that she never did get a birthday cake with seven candles will make you cry.

Allison was one of 26 peo­ple — including 20 children — killed one year ago today at the Sandy Hook Elementa­ry School in Newtown, Conn.

The adorable little girl who loved to garden and draw had her future snuffed out by gunman Adam Lanza in the country’s second-deadliest mass shooting after the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre.

Her aunt and uncle are Elaine and Stanley Rogers of Newport. Her grandparents, Marty and Danny Wyatt, grew up in Monroe and moved to Florida. They have heavy hearts today, like much of the nation, and plenty on their minds.

The family politely ­declined an interview request from The Monroe News this week, and they chose to say little about the tragedy last year. Though, Mrs. Rogers said Allison visited here in 2010 for a family reunion. Her aunt, in the weeks following the murders, told The Monroe News, “She just brightened everything. She was a sweetheart.”

Allison wanted to be an artist. Her drawings were taped to the walls of the family home in Southbury as if it was an art studio. Legacy.com noted that she had a way of making “her parents laugh so hard they cried.”

The family issued this statement after her death: “Allison made the world a better place for six, far too short, years and we now have to figure out how to move on without her. She was a sweet, creative, funny, intelligent little girl who had and amazing life ahead of her. Our world is a lot darker now that she’s gone. We love and miss her so much.”

The Norwalk (Conn.) Citizen last month detailed the dedication of a playground in her name at Oyster Shell Park in that city. It was the 13th playground completed by the “ Where the Angels Play Foundation,” which plans to honor all 26 shooting victims with a playground. Allison was born in Norwalk, where her mother is a nurse at Norwalk Hospital.

Her parents wrote on a Web site to support a fund in the girl’s memory: “Allison was a kindhearted little girl who had a lot of love to give, and she formed special bonds with most people who spent any amount of time with her. She loved her family and teachers especially, but would often surprise us with random acts of kindness -- once even offering her Goldfish crackers to a complete stranger on a cross-country flight.

“...She often drew pictures for her teachers, her school bus driver, school friends, relatives and anyone else she adored. We found a final picture that Allie had drawn for her first grade teacher, Miss Soto, complete with ‘I love you, Love Allie.’ “ Victoria Soto died trying to protect Allison and her other first-graders that day.

The Rev. Walter L. Pitman led the memorial service for Allison last year at Sacred Heart Church in Southbury, Conn. He recalled that “she had her two grandfathers wrapped around her finger and she knew it” and noted her naturally- inquisitive ways and love of reading and math.

You can only imagine what Allison Noelle Wyatt might have accomplished by the time she blew out 16 candles.

Near the end of that service one year ago, Pitman, according to the Connecticut Post, said, “Live your life the way she lived hers. Be funny. Be goofy. Be silly. Greet each day with fun and a sense of adventure. And, whenever possible, share your Goldfish with a stranger.”

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